Second newborn baby tests positive for coronavirus

Another newborn has tested positive for the coronavirus Friday, marking what appears to be the second such case as the pandemic worsens.

The London infant’s mother was rushed to a local hospital days before giving birth over fears she had contracted pneumonia, The Sun reported Friday.

Her coronavirus test came back positive only after she had given birth; her baby was tested minutes later.

They are being treated at separate hospitals as health care professionals investigate whether the baby contracted the illness while in the womb or after birth, the outlet said.

Back in early February, another infected mother in China gave birth to a baby who was also confirmed to be infected, the BBC reported at the time.

And a very young child, an 18-month-old boy in Hong Kong, has also tested positive for the virus after both parents had tested positive, according to a report Thursday.

There have been more than 137,000 cases reported worldwide along with more than 5,000 related deaths.

https://nypost.com/2020/03/13/second-newborn-baby-tests-positive-for-coronavirus/

Veterans’ home on lockdown after 8 test positive for virus

Staff is helping to keep veterans connected to loved ones during the lockdown

PORTLAND, Ore. (KOIN) — There are now eight residents at a veterans’ home in Lebanon who have tested positive for the coronavirus. The facility is on lockdown.

During this lockdown at the Edward C. Allworth Veterans’ Home, no visitors are allowed and only essential people are allowed in the building, including medical personnel. There are four neighborhoods here at the Lebanon location. As officials get test results back, they said it appears that the coronavirus is contained in one neighborhood.

“Those veterans are our nation’s heroes; they protected our freedoms and the way of life that we enjoy now,” said Kelly Fitzpatrick, Director of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs. “Now, it’s my sacred duty and my agency’s sacred duty to fight for them and we are going to do everything in our power to do that, to make sure we mitigate the spread of the virus among the residents and staff.”

All eight veterans who tested positive are in isolation within the facility. What we know is that five of the men are older than 75 years old, another man is between 54 and 74 years old. Right now, health officials believe that those six cases are linked to the two previous cases discovered in the facility, however, they do not know the source of the exposure.

Officials are also testing other staff. So far, 28 tests have come back negative.

“I’m grateful to the staff members who are working so hard every day with the veterans,” said Fitzpatrick. “The Linn County community and all the parents at the state and federal level.”

The Oregon Health Authority strike team is assisting with the situation and has collected specimens for testing. The directors of the Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs said their hearts go out to everyone affected.

“We want to make sure we take care of our nation’s heroes who are in the Lebanon home and we make sure their family and friends can rest easy knowing that they are in the best possible place right now,” said Fitzpatrick.

Currently, these are presumptive cases of the coronavirus in Linn County. Local public health officials said more than 100 tests were conducted on Friday. The issue is that the state public health lab can only run 80 tests a day.

The Edward C. Allworth Veterans’ Home will be on lockdown for the foreseeable future. The staff has been working to keep veterans connected to their loved ones during the lockdown through phone or video chat. The Oregon Department of Veterans’ Affairs has a website and a hotline that anyone can visit or call to get updated information.

https://www.koin.com/news/health/coronavirus/veterans-home-on-lockdown-after-8-test-positive-for-virus/

[sad to here this… how are all these ppl getting tested?]